IKEA Standing Desk – Two Weeks Later

I’ve been two weeks since I’ve started working at $22 my stand up desk (inspiration from here) and I thought I’d post an update. Overall, its been a good experience but I’ve found a few things interesting …

• I’m much more productive when I’m ready to work when I’m at the standing desk. For some reason standing makes me more productive.
• My feet, back and shoulders were very sore for the first three to four days. I expected some additional soreness, but not like what I had experienced. I’m thinking of getting an anti-fatigue mat to help with this issue.
• Everyone said I’d have more energy. I found this to be moot. I had the same energy, but I did feel better overall.
• I noticed that I was more apt to go get water and do something when I was standing rather than when I was sitting. The act of standing up and then sitting down (over and over) has a mental weight associated with it that I did not know existed prior to having a stand up desk.
• Some people say they don’t get tired standing up, but I found that I did. That doesnt mean I’m a lazy ass though. I usually have an hour + CrossFit style workout that I do during the day and after performing numerous 225lb deadlifts and 150 lb push presses and a ton of pullups for an hour, I’m tired. During that recuperation time, I sit at a regular desk I have and eat lunch. So I’m probably 7-8 hours standing and around 1 hour sitting day overall.
• I found my overall attitude while working was better as compared to when I was sitting down. While sitting down I felt when someone spoke to me I was being interrupted. I didn’t feel that way when standing up.
• The single LACK desk was great to test the stand up desk theory but now that I’ve confirmed that I like it, I decided to get another LACK desk to make the stand up area larger (so I can place my laptop on a stand and gain a second monitor at the same level).

Overall, I’d recommend everyone try it. It’s cheap, simple and works well. Plus you’re more active throughout the day, by far.